"Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations." 1 Samuel 8:5
With my position in life, I often get to hear a lot about the hardships that other people face. Some of this comes from my position, and some comes from being a listening ear. Some also comes because, in all humility, I often can give a little bit of insight that could possibly help their situation (that insight often having come either through personal experience or what I have seen in others in their struggles).
There is one thing that tends to crop up remarkably often when I find myself in one of these situations. The people who find themselves there are feeling true pain, and there are truly real life issues that they are having to deal with. There is a story that leads up to where they happen to be. And as I listen to their stories, one thing typically comes through pretty loud and clear. They are where they are because of things that they did or that they failed to do in life. They chose to go down paths that were perhaps less than wise, or they chose not to do things that may have been challenging at the time, but that would have saved a lot of heartache and headache if they had been addressed when they were smaller.
In other words, one thing that I find is true of many circumstances is that we brought it on ourselves. The people of Israel wanted a king, like everyone else, and then had bad kings that led them astray, and eventually to being conquered and exiled. The thing is, they brought it on themselves. They didn't want to do things God's way, but the popular way, and eventually they reaped the consequences for it.
It's often that way for families in financial situations, or health situations. Now, I won't say that it's always the case. There are events that come up unexpectedly that we simply cannot avoid. However, in general, many of the challenges and difficulties we face in life come because we made choices along the way that led to them. In other words, we brought it upon ourselves.
But here's the thing. God can and does still bring good out of those. Perhaps He is working to teach us that it's a good and wise thing to see what others think before we do the things we do. Perhaps He's teaching us to think about how we make use of our resources, or to count the cost of what we are planning on doing. Perhaps He's guiding us to be better stewards of what He has given to us.
The good news is that we can always be sure that God will wash away our poor and sinful choices through the blood of Jesus. He may still teach us the lesson we need, but that's because He cares for us and wants to see us learn and grow from the situation. So may our ears always be open to hearing where God may be leading and guiding, even when we find those tough times that we may have brought upon ourselves.
With my position in life, I often get to hear a lot about the hardships that other people face. Some of this comes from my position, and some comes from being a listening ear. Some also comes because, in all humility, I often can give a little bit of insight that could possibly help their situation (that insight often having come either through personal experience or what I have seen in others in their struggles).
There is one thing that tends to crop up remarkably often when I find myself in one of these situations. The people who find themselves there are feeling true pain, and there are truly real life issues that they are having to deal with. There is a story that leads up to where they happen to be. And as I listen to their stories, one thing typically comes through pretty loud and clear. They are where they are because of things that they did or that they failed to do in life. They chose to go down paths that were perhaps less than wise, or they chose not to do things that may have been challenging at the time, but that would have saved a lot of heartache and headache if they had been addressed when they were smaller.
In other words, one thing that I find is true of many circumstances is that we brought it on ourselves. The people of Israel wanted a king, like everyone else, and then had bad kings that led them astray, and eventually to being conquered and exiled. The thing is, they brought it on themselves. They didn't want to do things God's way, but the popular way, and eventually they reaped the consequences for it.
It's often that way for families in financial situations, or health situations. Now, I won't say that it's always the case. There are events that come up unexpectedly that we simply cannot avoid. However, in general, many of the challenges and difficulties we face in life come because we made choices along the way that led to them. In other words, we brought it upon ourselves.
But here's the thing. God can and does still bring good out of those. Perhaps He is working to teach us that it's a good and wise thing to see what others think before we do the things we do. Perhaps He's teaching us to think about how we make use of our resources, or to count the cost of what we are planning on doing. Perhaps He's guiding us to be better stewards of what He has given to us.
The good news is that we can always be sure that God will wash away our poor and sinful choices through the blood of Jesus. He may still teach us the lesson we need, but that's because He cares for us and wants to see us learn and grow from the situation. So may our ears always be open to hearing where God may be leading and guiding, even when we find those tough times that we may have brought upon ourselves.
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